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Ever since Damar Hamlin’s tragic health scare on Monday night, numerous fake GoFundMe accounts are being created (and being taken down by the company). If you are thinking about donating, however, beware, because they keep popping up.
TMZ reports…
A spokesperson for GoFundMe tells TMZ … there’s only 1 verified fundraiser on the platform confirmed by Damar’s family — The Chasing M’s Foundation Community Toy Drive, which has surpassed $4.7M since Damar’s incident, as we reported.
We’re told anything not authorized by the family is already being taken down in real-time.
Among the fake Damar Hamlin fundraisers are those claiming that the money raised will go directly to the Buffalo Bills safety in the hospital to help offset his medical care.
Several other scam GoFundMe pages look almost identical to the real one with the exact same photos and verbiage used on the real fundraising page.
Apparently, according to TMZ, not all of the fake fundraising pages were made with nefarious intentions. Some were just created by people wanting to help without following the proper protocols.
Here in McKees Rocks, Damar Hamlin held a toy drive back in 2020 with the goal to give kids a better Christmas.
That mission has become so much bigger this week.
The slogan of the daycare is fitting: “Where the place is small, but the love is big.” pic.twitter.com/k0HLspZBEy
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) January 3, 2023
As of this writing, the real Damar Hamlin GoFundMe page, which was created by him as a toy drive with a goal of raising $2,500, has now surpassed $6.6 million in donations.
“Bills fans, in a lot of ways, have kind of set an example over the past several years, five or six years, especially since the (Andy) Dalton thing,” Del Reid, the founder of Buffalo-based charitable clothing company 26 Shirts, told The Athletic. “So it’s an opportunity for the world at large to get on board with this and just to show love.
Among the famous names who have cut a check to help out Hamlin’s toy drive are Andy Dalton ($3K), Robert Kraft ($18K+3), Jim Irsay ($25K+3), Tom Brady ($10K), Russell Wilson and Ciara ($10K), Matthew Stafford ($12K), Chris Jericho ($10K), the Houston Texans ($10K+3), Mike Evans ($5K), Davante Adams ($5K), the Washington Commanders ($5K), Ryan Leaf ($2.5K), Shannon Sharpe ($2.5K), Josh McDaniels ($2.5K), Michael Phelps ($2K), Devin McCourty ($2K), and Jason McCourty ($2K).
“We’re simply awestruck by the level of support and generosity we’ve seen over the past two days,” Demar’s team wrote on the GoFundMe page. “With over $6 million raised, this fundraiser has become an overnight reminder of the incredible nature of humankind. Your actions directly reflect the type of human Damar is himself.”